Create Buzz
The construct was simple. In a "Where Do Your Shoes Go?" contest, users were expected to post pictures of themselves in intriguing locations wearing their designer shoes. Users voted for their preferred pictures and the victors got a year's supply of designer shoes. The outcome? Gobs of fresh Facebook fans, tens of thousands of intermeshed users, a grounded social-media buzz, and the origination of many useful brand enthusiasts for the industrious designer label. How to do it?
Figure out the particulars of the contest. Find and get a prize that's relevant to the concerns of your brand. Plan for a particular launch date for the contest to become active, and a deadline by which all contestants will have to enter to be eligible to get the prize and any other contest particulars. Get a social media to account free using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.
The social site will allow contestants to show their interest in participating. Announce the competition. Update your social page to advise your visitors that a contest is being held. Include all of the info that the potential contestants will need to know prior to entering the contest. Make your visitors cognizant of the prize, and let them know that they'll need to participate through your social media site.
Upon picking out the winner, e-mail him seeking the details of where you are able to send the prize. Pick out runner-ups in the event that you don't hear back from the initial victor of the contest. Run the contest and pick a winner. Sort through all of the entries you've been sent, and pick out the winner based on the contest rules.
Give out the prize and declare the results. Send off the prize to the winner of the contest, and once he's received the prize, declare the results of the contest on your social media site. This will see to it that none of your visitors are left ceaselessly wondering whether or not they've been selected as the winner. As well, this will bring people back to check for the next contest and stir interest in your brand and your main website.
GiveAways
There is another success story with an online photo processing service that wanted to establish a fan base and tug at user engagement via Facebook. What they did was use a monthly ezine to promote an easy game related to an old classic photo game. In the e-zine, 2 subtly dissimilar pictures were featured, and the 1st group of users who named and posted the deviations on Facebook got a $25 gift card. The photo processing company got more Facebook fans than ever - or since.
In a like promotion, an alcoholic beverage company discovered a creative way to capitalize on extra canvas carryalls sitting around their office. Instead of stuffing the bags in a storage closet, they utilized the bags as prizes in a competition designed to drive user participation on Facebook. To acquire a carryall, users were asked to place pictures of themselves drinking the beverage on the brand's Facebook page, a comparatively effortless request looking at the number of drinking photos on Facebook.
Needless to say, the canvas carryalls went like hotcakes, and brand cognizance expanded exponentially. The price? An uncluttered office. If you're just beginning and not making any income yet on, then you'll have to decide whether or not you prefer to spend money on a giveaway or not. What should you give away? Gift cards are forever popular. But a different great idea is to target it to your chief audience. Give something away that will associate with your product or service.
Don't prefer to spend your own income on a giveaway? You still have alternatives. Attempt asking business owners that you know if they'd like to sponsor a giveaway. You'll have to pitch your site, so make certain you tell them how many visitors you get or expect. Tell them who your readers are and what kind of products they'd be interested in. And tell them how you'll market your giveaway.
Do make certain to tell them that they'll be responsible for sending the prize to the winner, however. It is so much simpler than having them ship it to you and then you send it to the winner. Another way to discover sponsors for your giveaways is to ask your contacts on Twitter and Facebook. Another good way to discover sponsors is in the Etsy forums. Etsy is a site where craftsmen sell their handmade goods on. Just post that you're seeking sponsors for a giveaway on your site, what type of site you have, and your contact info.
Likely the easiest way to pull in sponsors is to begin praising them on your site. Do you love a housecleaning product? A gizmo? Playthings? When you give good reviews, individuals will take notice, particularly businesses. If a business contacts you to sponsor a giveaway, they'll more than likely offer you a gratis product to review. Then they'll provide one or more of that same product for you to have a giveaway with.
All right, now you have your giveaway prize. Begin dropping hints that you'll be featuring a giveaway soon. This peaks interest and keeps people coming back. When you're ready to submit your giveaway, make certain to make it an amusing post. Ask people to leave a comment about the product, what they admire about it, or something like that. Then provide extra giveaway entries. For example, if they discuss your giveaway on their blog, they receive an extra entry. If they tweet about it on Twitter, a different entry. Utilize your resourcefulness, but make certain it all leads back to more views for your site.
Besides promoting on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, email it to your friends and family and post it on OnlineSweepstakes.com (OLS). OLS is the largest and best site listing for online giveaways and you'll get a lot of traffic. Choose the winner and send out Your Prize. Contact your winner and get their mailing address. Ship their prize without delay, and include a courteous card thanking them for entering your giveaway.
Excerpted from the book The New Internet Marketing.
This excerpt has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Download this book on Boostlane:
https://boostlane.com/p/boostlane/552/the-new-internet-marketing-shift/
